Brazil keeper Marcos is poised to complete his move to Arsenal.

The 29-year-old is on the brink of a £2.4million switch to Highbury after passing a medical.

He has yet to put pen to paper but is confident of signing a four-and-a-half year contract.

Arsenal want him to join them as soon as possible as back-up for David Seaman and the injured Rami Shaaban. And Marcos himself hinted that he could be a Gunner within days.

He said: "It is possible that I will be here by the end of the month. There are many formalities to be sorted out first but, yes, I could be an Arsenal player this season.

"I will need time to adapt and obviously I will be better when I have a pre-season training with Arsenal, but I am hopeful the transfer will be sorted out before I go back to Brazil tonight.

"I have to get international clearance and the financial details have to be agreed between me and with Palmeiras and Arsenal.

"But this will be a very exciting challenge for me. All the talks have gone well so far and I am confident that an agreement can be reached."

Arsenal were the only club to make a firm offer to Palmeiras but Marcos believes that other Premiership managers, including Sir Alex Ferguson and Kevin Keegan, may have been interested in him.

He said: "I heard that Manchester United, Manchester City and Deportivo La Coruna wanted me, but the only offer to Palmeiras came from Arsenal."

Marcos, who is single, wants his brother to come to England to help him settle in, although he can also rely on the friendship of compatriots Edu and Gilberto Silva, who are already at Arsenal.